Drive to Nowhere and Amazon distribution

You can now 'search inside' Drive to Nowhere - a process that the publisher must initiate. It was all quite easy, though, and took less than three weeks.

The book is currently listed for sale on all Amazon sites including Japan and retail prices remain steady at approximately $19/£9.

When you purchase a Distribution package through Lulu, the book is eventually listed by a number of online retailers. However, physical shops don't tend to automatically stock your book unless you have a reputation because print-on-demand books are not returnable. You're a liability to them if you're an unknown.

One solution is to buy in bulk yourself and sell the books on consignment to the physical bookstores. For most, this is not economical, takes up space and defeats the whole purpose of print-on-demand. You need to buy a lot of books to get a higher margin on them.

The other advantage of an ISBN is that theoretically customers should be able to order a book in from any bookstore, right? It doesn't always work that way, however, due to the deals big chains have with distributors. With a little persistence it should be possible, though